Question

Which of the following is the location of a point on the globe that is antipodal to 65 degree north latitude and 30 degree east longitude?
a)65 degree north latitude 30 degree west longitude
b)30 degree south latitude, 65 degree west longitude
c)65 degree south latitude, 150 degree west longitude
d)30 degree north latitude, 65 degree west longitude.

Answer 1

Hint:The earth is spherical in shape. However , the earth is not a perfect sphere and hence it is difficult to describe location on earth relative to some other location. This is why imaginary lines called longitudes and latitudes are formed to describe the location of a point on earth precisely .

Complete Answer:Latitudes are parallel lines that are drawn from north to south on earth. Longitudes, on the other hand, are lines that are drawn east to west. The longitudes join at the poles. These latitudes and longitudes together form the coordinate system which helps to determine places on earth.

An antipode in geography is a spot on earth that is exactly opposite a reference point on the opposite side of the earth. A pair of antipodal points are located as such that if one were to draw a line joining them, that line would pass through the center of the Earth. For example, antipodes of New Zealand would lie somewhere in Spain.

To calculate the latitude of an antipode, one has to change the sign and direction of the latitude of the reference point. If one would subtract the absolute value of the reference-point longitude from 180 degrees and change the sign and direction of the answer with reference to the reference point, one can find the longitude of an antipode.

Therefore the point antipodal to 65 degree north latitude and 30 degree east latitude would be 65 degree south latitude, 150 degree west longitude.
The correct answer is option is option (C ).

Note:Since the majority of Earth is covered with water, most places on Earth don’t have land based antipodes. To make the longest trip around Earth, a traveler would have to cover the distance between a set of antipodal points. Presently , no commercial airlines provide scheduled non-stop flights between a set of antipodal points.